Friday morning with an old friend

March 6, 2009, 12:00 am

By Rani Molla

I guess enough time has gone by because John McCain has made his way back to that computer machine again, and this time with enough stamina to directly criticize President Obama. Kudos venerable war hero.

Sure he makes a maybe-even-legit tirade against government wastefulness, but I'm not concerned with what's wrong or right or whether the term pork-barrel spending should be permanently voided from human utterance, merely for overuse; instead I'm focused on how nice it is to hear the voice of my old friend, John McCain. It's fascinating that he can write—or more likely force a fledgling and supple Young Republican IT intern to write—just like he speaks, my friends.

While campaigning for change, Barack Obama said, "We need earmark reform, and when I'm President, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely." But now the President is about to sign a huge 2,697 page spending bill with over 9,000 unnecessary and wasteful earmarks. That's not the "change" we are looking for. I have called on the President to take a principled stand and veto the bill if it is sent to him, but unfortunately, he appears ready to sign it into law, which is nothing more than politics as usual.

It's no secret that I've spent my political career fighting against out-of-control, wasteful spending in Congress. And in nearly 30 years, I have never witnessed the type of alarming and irresponsible spending as I have seen in Washington over the past few weeks.

I am appalled to see this legislation being rushed through the Congress while containing so many egregious earmarks. It is unconscionable that while we are asking Americans to do more with less in these trying economic times we are about to spend $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa, $2 million for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii, $475,000 for a parking garage in Provo City, Utah, $300,000 to build a Montana World Trade Center, and $150,000 for a rodeo museum in South Dakota.

Simply put, your federal tax dollars should not be funding these types of projects.

Let me put this all in perspective -- our country is currently nearly $11 trillion dollars in debt. Our projected deficit for 2009 alone is an alarming $2 trillion dollars. Just two weeks ago, President Obama signed a bill that the Democratic-led Congress passed to spend an additional $1 trillion in "stimulus spending." And on top of all of this, President Obama has requested $3.6 trillion in additional spending for 2010.

This type of spending should not happen and we must be principled and stop it!

I'm asking you to join me today in supporting the effort to stop this wasteful spending. I'm urging you to make an immediate donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500 or whatever you can give to my re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate to continue the fight to bring an end to wasteful spending.

Unfortunately, under the influence of the far-left, America is being led down a spending path that will be destructive to our children and grandchildren. And it is up to us to fight against this type of reckless spending.

My friend, I have fought against wasteful spending in Washington for many decades and I promise you, I will not give up this fight until we have put America on the right track toward fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget. Thank you again for your continued support.

Sincerely,
John McCain

P.S. Spending in Washington is out-of-control and it's up to us to stop it. The Democratic-controlled Congress has passed spending bills stuffed with pork that will dig our country further into debt. This spending is not stimulating our economy. I'm asking you to take action today by following this link to make the most generous contribution you can to my re-election campaign, so that I am able to take this message directly to the American people and stop earmarks once and for all. Please join the fight today. Thank you.